It All Started With A Boy
by tradingforeverx
Summary: Victoria had never led a normal life, but in her Seventh Year, life at Hogwarts gets all the more complicated. She trips more, she gets in trouble more, she blushes more, but perhaps this is just the beginning of her life. And it all started with a boy.
1. Of Skirts, Detention, And a Boy

Victoria Simmons has never been quite normal. She was just a little insane, as her mother said, a little quirky. Her clumsiness caused for random bruises on her knees and elbows, and when asked how she got them, the only reply she could give was, Who knows? She had an unhealthy obsession with pickles, which were her favorite food, along with burnt potato chips, cucumber, and mustard. Some could argue mustard was not a food, and instead a condiment, but if they did, they had obviously never met Victoria Simmons, for it had a designated spot on her plate during each meal.

Occasionally, she wondered why people always gave her such weird looks. I mean, sure she got herself into some peculiar situations, like the time her foot got stuck in the toilet, or her gum fell down her shirt, or she accidently smacked McGonagall on the bottom, but really, didn't everyone find themselves in embarrassing situations every once in a while?

She pondered this as she found herself in yet again another one of these situations. The latest? She'd suddenly been overcome with the greatest desire to clothe the suits of armor, and the only logical thing she could think of was, of course, to pull down her own skirt and use that.

Maybe if she'd worn her other knickers–the ones with the stars instead of the gingerbread men–maybe then she wouldn't have found herself sitting in McGonagall's office, being offered a biscuit rather forcefully.

"No, thanks," she replied, her legs now becoming very cold as her skirt was still on the suit of armor.

"Have one," McGonagall insisted.

"Really, I don't–"

"Take it."

"Okay..." she hesitantly took the smallest biscuit she could find in the tin, taking a timid bite.

"Ms Simmons, might I ask why you were standing in the corridor not properly clothed while the suit of armor wore your school skirt?"

"Well, you see, Professor, it really does make a lot of sense, you know. Don't you ever wonder what it'd be like to be a suit of armor? I reckon it'd be mighty lonely, I'll tell you that. But also, I'm pretty sure it'd be _cold._ Have you ever touched them? They're really cold, you know, and I thought to myself, Maybe they'd want a little warming up! And well, I don't just carry skirts around with me, save the one I was wearing, mind you, so I thought to myself, why not!"

McGonagall pursed her lips. "You are aware the consequences of your actions, correct?"

"Well, Tinny won't be as cold now, I'm hoping."

"You will be serving detention for the nest week, starting tonight at eight. Is that understood?" McGonagall told her loudly.

"Yup, got it," she answered cheerily. "Can I go now?"

"Yes. Just remember to get another skirt, Ms Simmons."

"Right-o, McG."

"Oh, and Victoria?" McGonagall called as Victoria made her way towards the door, her hand on the handle, turning it slowly.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Nice underwear." Her lips formed a thin, almost indistinguishable smile.

"Thanks!" Victoria answered cheerily. "I got it from this really cute shop just around the corner from my house, it's got the most _adorable_ little–" Her professor's stern glance stopped her from going anything further. "Right, leaving now," she amended quickly, exiting McGonagall's office and heading down the corridor. Her thin legs now had goose bumps from the draft within the castle, and she quickened her pace to the Gryffindor tower. She was going to be late for her first class now, but she figured McGonagall would understand considering she was the one who told her she should get another skirt.

The staircases seemed to be on her side as they were perfectly aligned to get to the Tower, and she cheerily gave the Fat Lady the password, conveniently missed the odd look she received from said portrait. She ran up the stairs to her room, grabbed a skirt and her bag, before heading back out towards her first period of the day, Transfiguration.

She opened the door loudly, letting it bang against the wall next to it as she jauntily entered the room, not bothering to close the door behind her. She easily attained all eyes in the room, her peers sniggering behind their hands, McGonagall giving her a stern glare.

"Please find your seat, Ms Simmons," she told Victoria, who saluted her and slid into her seat next to her best friend, Julia Tent.

Unfortunately, her chair wasn't under her butt, and she instead fell to the ground. Laughs erupted through the class as her face turned beet red. Julia's bubbly face appeared in front of her, asking, "Are you alright?" but there was no real infliction in the question; she was laughing just as much, if not more, than everyone else.

"I think I broke my bum," she groaned, lifting herself off the ground and planting herself firmly into her seat. Eventually the laughter died down, and McGonagall restarted class.

"Now that there aren't anymore _interruptions..._" she started.

"Wouldn't be too sure of that," someone in the back sniggered, and Victoria sent whoever it was a nasty look before whipping back around to face front.

Almost instantly, her attention was elsewhere–the tree outside, the quill twirling in her hand, her empty parchment, the strand of hair that wouldn't stay out of her face. Transfiguration had never been that interesting for her.

A note slid it's way into her view.

_What'd you do? _It read it Julia's messy scrawl.

**Dressed Tinny in my skirt, thought he looked cold. McG came round the corner just when I was admiring my handiwork**, she wrote back.

_You're an idiot, Tory._

**Eh, stuff it.**

_So..if Tinny's still a he, why'd you give him your skirt?_

Victoria stared at the parchment for a second before writing a simple reply, **Cross-dresser. Don't be ignorant, Jules.**

Julia laughed next to her, shaking her head and turning back to the lecture at hand. Victoria turned back to the window, letting her quill twirl in her hand once more. First period and she was already bored...

**XXX**

The day passed by slowly with little more events on Victoria's part. Sooner than she thought, she was sitting in the Common Room, her satchel full of notes and textbooks sitting by her feet, but it was virtually no where near her thought process. She figured that she could finish the homework she had been given the next morning at breakfast, or at least her first couple periods.

"Is it beetle eyes or parrot droppings that work best in the Quickness potion?" Julia asked from next to her. Victoria shrugged, her eyes trained on the Mary Jane's on her feet as she watched them twist and turn as she moved her foot.

"Beetle eyes," came a deep voice from behind them, as the boy jumped over the couch they were seated on and slid in between them.

"Thanks," Julia mumbled, scratching away at her essay.

"Hey, Finn," Victoria greeted, raising her eyes to be met with one of her friends, Finn Worth.

"Hey. Heard about your stunt this morning. Risky move. Wish I woulda been there so I coulda at least given the old Tinman my trousers," he replied, slinging an arm around her shoulder and tousling her hair.

"Than McG woulda given you detention as well."

"How much you get?"

"A week."

"Not too bad."

She shrugged. "I've had worse."

He laughed. "Yeah, like that time you transfigured all the steps into slides on Graduation Day last year."

She cringed. "Yeah, McG practically had a fit. But man oh man, did that little hussy Tammy White deserve it after giving me that look on my first day of Hogwarts. Old cow made me cry."

"Did you ever think to let go of your old grudges?"

"Hell no," she replied. "That look almost made me pee my pants. Come to think of it, I think I did. I almost jumped out of the window to go back to my parents before dear old Jules came in the compartment." Victoria jerked her thumb to her best friend, who still had her face pressed up against her essay.

"Huh?" she asked, lifting her head up. Her nose had been so close to the parchment that when she lifted her head, her nose had smeared against the drying ink and there was now a black smear across her nose as well as her parchment.

Finn laughed. "You've got something just right there, Julia," he told her, rubbing his own nose. She rubbed her's before realizing it was wet and looking down at her parchment.

"Aw, man, I always do that," she complained, fishing her wand out of her bag to clean up the mess.

"Well," Victoria said, clapping her hands. "As much fun as this is, some of us have funner places to be. Like detention, for example. See you guys later." She got up, waving as she left.

"Funner's not a word," Julia called after her, but Victoria waved her off, exiting the portrait hole and making her way down to McGonagall's office for the second time that day.

Once she entered, she saw that she was not the only one being punished by her dear old professor tonight, and that another of her peers was sitting in her usual seat in front of McGonagall's desk.

She entered the room, waving to Mcgonagall as she entered, before turning to the offending boy in her chair. "You're in my seat," she told him.

"Er, what?" he asked, shifting slightly.

"My seat. You're in it."

"You have your own seat in McGonagall's office?" he asked.

She sighed impatiently. "Yes. And that's it. I've sat in that exact seat since the first time I got in trouble in first year."

"It doesn't matter," McGonagall snapped. "You will be leaving anyways. Follow me," she ordered them, sweeping out of the room. Victoria gave the boy a nasty look before following her professor. She heard the boy follow after her.

"You will be cleaning the trophies with Mr Filch," McGonagall called back to them. "He is awaiting you in the trophy room."

Neither student answered her as they walked down to the trophy room where Filch was, as promised, waiting, his cat surprisingly no where to be seen, but his sickly yellow teeth barred in a smile nonetheless.

"Troublemakers," he grunted, his smile turning into a scowl at the sight of them. "I'll take them from here, Minerva."

McGonagall nodded, leaving them with the caretaker. He gave them disapproving glances before handing them toothbrushes and demanding their wands.

"Why?" Victoria asked suspiciously.

"So you don't use magic to clean the trophies," he snapped.

"But how do you know you're not going to kill me once I hand it over?" she questioned.

The boy elbowed her, a slight smirk on his face, "Just give him your wand."

She sighed. "Fine, but when we're about to be slaughtered and fed up for breakfast tomorrow morning, and your girlfriend is sitting there eating you, don't come crying to me," she complained.

He merely smiled, lifting up his toothbrush and heading into the trophy room. She followed, and Filch stood guard at the door. They worked in silence for a few minutes, before the boy decided to break it.

"So, where's the cat, Filch?" he asked.

"Be quiet," the man snapped, his glare intensifying.

"Oh, well, I was just wondering, you see," he said innocently, "I heard that some _troublemakers_ were planning on taking her hostage and perhaps painting her pink. I was just hoping that didn't happen, she's such a nice cat after all."

Filch's naturally pale face turned an ugly shade of red. "Why, those mangy little..." He trailed off, glancing at them. "I'll be back. Don't even think about leaving." With that, he wobbled out of the room, on the look beloved cat.

The boy next to her smirked at his handiwork. He sat, dropping the toothbrush next to him, and grudgingly, she did the same. They sat in silence for only a moment before he broke it.

"So," he said. "You're the one who put her skirt on the suit of armor, right?"

She sniffed indignantly. "Yes," she replied haughtily.

A slow grin appeared on his face. "Nice," he approved.

Okay, so maybe the boy wasn't that bad after all.

"What's your name?" he asked, still grinning.

"Victoria," she answered slowly. "Victoria Simmons."

"Sirius Black," he told her, offering her his hand. She grabbed it, before pulling it back and narrowing her eyes. "Sirius Black," she repeated. "Why does that sound familiar?" The wheels turned slowly in her head before she snapped her fingers knowingly. "You're the little booger who dyed my hair in second year!"

He smirked. "Most likely guilty as charged. Us Marauders have a way of causing mischief."

"You who?" she asked, her head turned to the side.

"Marauders," he said in a 'duh' sort of voice.

"Who's that?"

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Why?"

"You don't know who we are?"

"No."

"Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs?"

"_What_?"

"Oh, come on." He gave her a look, but she only blinked back before he sighed, asking, "What year are you in?"

"Seventh."

He adopted a strange sort of look on his face. "House?"

"Gryffindor."

"So lemme get this straight..." he said. "We're in the same house. We're in the same year. Meaning we've had classes together since we were eleven. And you've never heard of us?"

He sounded so incredulous that she felt she owed him a pause before her answer. "No," she told him.

He groaned. "Have you been living under a rock?"

She huffed. "No," she said, "but _maybe_ you have if you're head has gotten so large but there are still people like myself who don't even know your name."

She lifted herself up off the floor, her toothbrush trapped under her foot. She heard something snap, and when she lifted her food, her toothbrush sat broken in two. Sirius didn't seem to notice, so she continued to the other side of the room, grabbing a trophy and rubbing her finger across it.

"Why are you using your finger?" he asked, a strange look on his face.

"I broke my toothbrush," she mumbled, her cheeks growing red. He merely laughed.


	2. The Mission

**AN:** Hi! Still alive, thanks. I've actually had this chapter done since I posted the first one, but I decided to leave a little suspense, haha. I've been working on the other chapter too, but I don't know how it'll turn out considering I'm definitely stressed nowadays. Anyways, here it is, and I hope you like it. Love it. Adore it. You know the drill.

**Disclaimer:** Only the plot and the OC's are mine, silly.

**Chapter Two: The Mission**

Victoria's eyes were shut firmly. Her mind was revolving around fields filled with blue cows and blue tulips, but her dorm mates obviously had different plans for her.

"I just–" one of the girls sobbed. "I don't understand! I t–thought...I thought we were happy!"

"Shh," another girl consoled. "He doesn't know what he's giving up. You'll find someone better."

"But that's the thing! There is no one better!" The girl now sounded practically near hysteria now, and Victoria groaned loudly, rolling over.

"That's all well and grand," she said, not even opening her eyes, "but could you save it until after five in the morning?"

"Shut up, Victoria! It's seven thirty in the bloody morning!" Okay. No more near hysteria. She was full on screeching now.

"Chill out, Amy," Victoria heard Julia say.

"No, I won't chill out! He probably dumped me for her! He only broke up with me after...after their stupid detention together!"

Now, Victoria really did open her eyes. "Sirius Black?" she asked, rolling over to be met with Amy Sullivan sitting on her bed, looking a mess, while her best friend, Kelly Andrews, sat on the floor, looking slightly scared but still trying to help her.

"See!" Amy yelled. "She knows his _name_..."

"Don't let it bother you," Kelly told her friend. "Sirius has better taste than the likes of her."

"Oy!" Victoria yelled, but Amy yelled louder.

"Don't even lie, she's bloody gorgeous, the s–stupid cow!"

Ah, Victoria thought, nothing like a little ego boost first thing in the morning. She stood, stretching her arms above her head and further ignoring whatever else was happening with her dorm mates, before grabbing a set of school robes and heading towards the shower.

Once she was out and dressed, she walked back into her dorm. The only person that was left was Julia, who sat on her bed in waiting.

"'Bout time," Julia complained. "I was about to leave you."

Victoria smirked before thrusting out her hip and snapping her fingers at her best friend, jumping on one foot. "You wouldn't. I'm bloody gorgeous." She lost her footing and fell back on her butt, but she was still smiling.

Julia's face came into view. "You stupid cow," she recited.

Victoria shrugged. "I can live with that," she said, holding out her hands to get Julia to help her up.

They both grabbed their bags and headed out of their dorm, arms linked as they skipped. When they reached the doors to the Entrance Hall, they abruptly dropped their arms, spreading their skirts out like nothing happened. They turned towards each other.

"Yeah, you're okay."

"You too."

"Well, of course I am." They entered the Great Hall. "I'm bloody gorgeous." Again, she slipped and fell.

"So do you think that phrase is cursed for you or something?" she heard Julia asked.

Victoria groaned. "Just help me up." Julia's arm came and latched onto Victoria's forearm, helping her up. They continued on as if nothing had happened, though people in seats near to where she had fallen gave them weird looks.

When Victoria saw a head of sleek black hair, she pulled Julia over.

"What are we doing?" Julia asked.

"Just wait," Victoria replied, her eyes set on a group of boys. When Julia followed her gaze, she gave a small screech, struggling to keep her distance between the boys and herself.

"The Marauders? That's where we're going?"

"Yup."

"Nu-uh, no way. 'Member that time in fourth year when they–"

"Nu-uh."

"Or in sixth year, when–"

"Nope." They reached their destination, Julia still mumbling under her breath angrily, but Victoria easily plopped herself down in the seat on Sirius Black's right. He turned toward her, obviously startled, but she ignored it.

"I'm bloody gorgeous," she said, testing it out. When she did not fall, she turned her head back towards Julia. "Ha!" she cried victoriously. "Not cursed. I win." She stuck her tongue out childishly as Julia stared back at her, almost in awe.

"Uh..." Sirius said, drawing Victoria's attention back to him.

"Hello," she greeted cheerfully, looking around at the three boys who all looked at her as if she was an alien. She heard Amy start to cry from the other end of the hall and three sets of eyes all swivelled in the direction of her cries, so Victoria figured she should cut down to the business. "Yeah, hear that?" she asked. "That's what I had to wake up to this morning. So, do me a favor?" she asked, looking straight at Sirius.

"He's even talking to her..." Another wail came. "That stupid _cow_!"

"Don't break any more of the girls' in my dorms' hearts, okay? It's a headache. Oh, and hey–" she turned back towards Julia. "How come you knew who they were but I didn't?"

Julia's cheeks burned as she looked over at the Marauders. Her cheeks became even more red as she scrambled for an excuse. "She's crazy. Senile, really, I don't know what's going on in that head of hers!" She gave a nervous laugh. "Ah ha! A-ha...ha...ha...?" She cleared her throat, looking away. "Right..."

"Well, we're off," Victoria said, giving her friend a strange look. Her eyes landed on something on Sirius' plate that made her squeal. "Ooh, look, mustard!" She swiped her finger across the mound of mustard before licking it off. "Ta-ta!" She stood, walking away with her finger in her mouth and Julia trailing after her after giving the Marauders an awkward wave, who were still in their daze.

"Hey!" Sirius yelled once he realized what had happened. "That was my mustard!"

**XXX**

"It was in 1836 when the third Goblin War of that century occurred. The goblins all..." Professor Binns droned on, not paying any attention to the students who were drooling over the parchment that lay on their desks. His dull blue eyes were fixed on the wall opposite him, and he floated over just one spot.

"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," Victoria said, sighing. Her face was balanced in her hand, squishing her cheek, and periodically her eyes would close only to open a few minutes later. The rest of the students had no problem sleeping through Binns' lecture, and regularly, neither did she, but today she just wasn't in the mood for her regular nap.

"Shut up, Tory," Julia muttered from beside Victoria, her face practically one with the desk under her, drool forming a small puddle on the surface.

"I'm just bored," Victoria explained.

Julia turned her head, letting her ponytail fall into the puddle, but Victoria only grimaced. "Then go to sleep," Julia suggested gruffly, before falling back asleep again.

"But I don't wanna," Victoria whined to herself, before sighing once more. She was the only student still awake, and the boredom was starting to get to her. Sighing for a third time, her eyes developed a spark of mischief. She grabbed the parchment that she had been doodling on seconds before, before crumpling it up. She looked back to check if it would be coming from the right direction before chucking it with all her might at Binns' stomach.

It fell a foot short.

She let out a huff of impatience. "Come on," she muttered. "I'm not that weak."

It seemed, however, that she was. She grabbed more and more parchment out of her bag, but all ten of her tries fell before coming in contact with the ghost.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She stood, a ball of parchment in hand, before taking a few steps closer to her professor. He didn't take notice.

She smiled as her ball of parchment flew right through the ghost's chest. Although Binns was not perceptive, it was impossible not to notice a ball of paper going through you, and his eyes turned to the class.

"Who did that?" he demanded, looking at all the sleeping faces before landing on Victoria, who was still standing a few feet from her seat. "Well?" he asked her.

"Oh, I was just getting my quill," she explained, pulling her lip balm out of her pocket and waving it in the air, pretending it was a quill. "But I, er...got it."

"Who threw it?"

"Oh, that was Black," she told him. "Sirius Black, to be precise. He's a Gryffindor, Seventh Year, black hair, gray eyes, sits in the third row by the window. He did it."

"Mr Black!"

James and Remus's heads lifted up at the sound of their friends name, almost as one, even though they weren't the ones being addressed. Seeing Professor Binns staring directly at Sirius, James nudged him in the ribs. Sirius's head shot up, drool trailing from the desk to his mouth before he wiped it away, blinking his eyes wearily and looking around, a few clumps of hair out of place on his usually neat head of hair. "Huh?" he mumbled unintelligently.

"You will serve detention with me at eight tonight," Binns informed him.

Sirius's face adopted a small, confused frown. "Wha...?"

"Detention, Mr Black."

"But... I was asleep, Professor."

"Another day's detention for sleeping in my class!"

"But what's the first one for?"

Binns eyes narrowed as he whispered, "You know what you did."

Victoria, who had all the while still been standing, promptly burst into fits of giggles. Binns took no notice, but the Marauders all looked at her curiously as her face started turning red and she had to hold onto her desk to keep balance.

"Oh, this is just too good," she managed through her laughter, and again at one, the Marauders cocked an eyebrow at her. Her hand slipped from its placement on the desk and she fell over on her butt.

Still, Binns did not pay her any attention.

"Um, Professor," Sirius said, motioning towards Victoria.

"Another detention, Black," Binns told him fiercely, causing Victoria to pound her hands and feet against the hard floor in sheer amusement, before Binns' eyes went back to the wall, and he continued his lecture. She carried on laughing before Julia woke up and looked at her best friend blearily.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Julia asked her, leaning over Victoria's chair.

"L–laughing," Victoria gasped, hugging her knees.

"Why?"

"I threw a paper ball at Binns and–and blamed S–Sirius, and he got three–three nights worth of detention!"

Julia didn't do anything except roll her eyes and let her head fall back on her desk, and eventually, Victorias laughter stopped. She didn't feel the need to get off the floor, so for the rest of the period, she was spread-eagle over the stones, making shapes out of the shadows on the ceiling. When the bell rang, everyone's head snapped up and they gathered their things sluggishly, making their way out of the class. Victoria took her time getting up off the floor, shoving stray parchment into her bag, and making her way out of the classroom door, Julia walking slowly behind her, her hand over her mouth in a yawn.

The second she was outside of the classroom, a hand caught her arm in a vicelike grip, pulling her away from the clutter of students and into a small alcove that went unseen by the public eye. Julia headed on without her, not taking any notice of her best friends disappearance, and Victoria opened her mouth, warning, "I'm going to scream in three seconds. One...two..."

"Oh, shut up," said a disgruntled voice.

"Three," she siad anyways, before letting out an incredibly loud, high scream.

A hand clamped over her mouth in a second, and furious gray eyes came into her line of view.

Oh. It was only Sirius.

"Could you not?" he snapped quietly.

She shrugged before sticking her tongue out and licking his hand, which he immediately drew back with a disgusted, "Ew, what was that for?"

"You shouldn't have put your hand over my mouth."

"You shouldn't have screamed."

"You shouldn't have pulled me into an alcove."

"You shouldn't have gotten me in trouble."

"You should have been so–hey wait, who said I got you in trouble?"

Sirius sighed, giving her a malicious glare before digging his hands in his pockets and leaning against the wall, rolling his eyes. "You were the only one awake when I got in trouble, not to mention you were standing and then you started cackling evilly when I got detention."

A sly smirk made its way onto her face. "Well, I am rather talented you know..." She brushed nonexistent dust from her shoulders.

"No you're not," he said bluntly. "Any other teacher would have noticed you."

"You don't have to rain on my parade," she told him. "And ugh, could you be any closer?" She put her hands on his chest, which was mere centimeters from her own, and trying to shove him back.

"As a matter of fact," he said, making to take a step forward, but she pushed him back again.

"Yeah, alright," she said. "Did this whole conversation have a point?"

"What'd you do to get me in trouble?"

"I didn't–"

"Victoria," he warned, and she winced. She had never been good at lying, especially when one was close enough to practically smell the sweat that she knew would be dripping from her hands if she tried it anymore.

"Well, you see, what happened was..." she said, bidding her time.

"And don't lie," Sirius hastened, and words were falling from her lips in seconds.

"I threw a paper ball through Binns," she blurted, before clamping a hand over her mouth.

She vaguely heard a bell ringing in the background, but she was too busy cursing herself in her head to take real notice.

His head turned to the side, calculating. "Why?"

"I was bored," she whined. "I can't be held accountable for the actions I may or may not do while bored."

"Then why'd you blame it on me?"

"Easiest target. Besides, I had to get you back for that time you dyed my hair."

"In second year?"

"Yes," Victoria stressed. "And now that we've clarified that, you've made us late for class. Good going, buck-o."

He rolled his eyes, grabbing her hand, and submerged into the wall , pulling her in with him.

"Oh, my God!" she gasped once they were done walking through the wall. "What the bloody hell–?"

"Secret," Sirius answered easily, still leading her. She took in her surroundings, noticing that they were on the fourth floor, where their next class was.

"Weren't–weren't we just on the sixth floor?" she asked.

"Good observation," he said wryly, turning a corner. The door to the Transfiguration room was just steps away from them, and before she could ask him what they were going to say as an excuse for their tardiness, he threw open the door, dropping her hand.

All noise stopped once they entered, eyes focusing in on them.

"Late again, Ms Simmons?" McGonagall asked, not even turning around from the board.

"I–" Victoria tried.

"And you as well, Mr Black," she continued. "Might I inquire as to why?"

Victoria opened her mouth to explain, but Sirius beat her to the punch. "Ms Simmons here thought it wise to ravish me in the middle of the corridor when I was making my way to class, Professor."

Victoria squeaked. "What did you just say?"

"No use denying it," Sirius told her, before taking his seat next to James Potter, propping his feet on his desk. "Everyone knows now."

She stood stationary, her mouth wide open at Sirius's audacity. The laughter of the class was loud in her ears as her cheeks turned red, giving Sirius a fierce glare before slipping into her seat next to Julia.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for tardiness," McGonagall announced, before continuing with what she'd been saying before Sirius and Victoria had barged in.

"Did you really ravish Sirius in the hall?" Julia muttered out of the side of her mouth.

"No," Victoria whispered hotly, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning back against her chair in a huff.

It was only seconds before a piece of parchment made its way onto her desk. It said simply, _Payback's a bitch._

She scowled, glaring down at the parchment, her face growing increasingly hot. She huffed again, throwing a dirty look at Sirius before turning back around.

He had another thing coming if he didn't think she'd retaliate.

A smirk slowly made its way onto her face as the wheels in her head turned, a plan forming as if on its own. This would work. Though, she might get in a little trouble for it herself...

The thought didn't even fully register in her brain before she performed a spell under her desk and whipped around to look at Sirius.

"Oh, Siri!" she called over, ignoring McGonagall's loud protest to her yelling during a teachers speech. Sirius looked at her in detached amusement before she said, "I forgot to give these back to you after you showed them to me!"

She threw a bottle across the room towards him, making sure that it didn't land anywhere near him. A student close by picked up the bottle, hearing the rattle of pills inside, and read out loud in a humor-filled voice, "_Enhancement Pills_?"

Victoria could hear McGonagall choking in the front of the classroom as the rest of it erupting into laughter and jeers towards the prankster who had just been beaten at his own game. Sirius' usually pale face was now bright red, his eyes small slits and shooting daggers at Victoria.

"Ms Simmons!" McGonagall screeched.

Victoria turned to her with an innocent look in her eyes. "Yes, Professor?" she asked.

"That was completely unacceptable–"

'I was just giving him back his property," Victoria continued, and more laughter ensued.

"Detention, Ms Simmons. Again. Eight o'clock."

The smug smile that had erupted on her face stayed put for the rest of the class period. Once the bell rang, she happily skipped out of the room, Julia next to her babbling about what Victoria had just done, but Victoria paid her no mind. She was too happy with her hard work to listen to anything her best friend had to say.

The next class she had was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and though she knew that Sirius was planning his revenge and bidding his time, she knew that he wouldn't try anything in this class. Their professor was the take-no-shit kind of professor, and even the great Sirius Black didn't dare try anything in this class, whether it was because he respected Professor Gregory or he was scared of him, Victoria couldn't tell, but she knew this was her Get Out of Jail Free card. She accepted it happily.

Entering the DADA classroom was always a task in its own, as Gregory always tried to test their abilities by making it hard to enter the classroom, and once they did enter, the desks were always in a different arrangement. He was by far the best professor they had had for DADA thus far. However, when the class reached the door, there was nothing awaiting them. The door opened easily, allowing the students to pass. Confused murmurs cut through the eerie silence of the classroom, and Victoria gave Julia a confused look before taking a seat, awaiting the arrival of her professor.

It wasn't long before he entered the classroom, shutting the door behind him with a loud bang. His robes blew out from behind him, and he easily attained everyone's eyes.

"You've surely noticed the lack of wards on the doors today. That is because we have an important topic to discuss," he said, turning around and leaning against his desk, his young, handsome features serious. His blue eyes scanned over the class. "The survey I gave out at the beginning of the year told me that about seventy percent of this class is interested in a career as an Auror. You're probably expecting a good luck," he continued, shaking his head. "But you won't get one from me. What you will get is a wake up call. You aren't ready to fight. Not in the slightest bit."

Victoria could see the offended look cross half of the class's features, and Gregory gave a small smirk.

"Which is why Dumbledore and I have come up with a sort of mission, if you will. Tomorrow, you all will be excused from your classes. You will meet in the Great Hall at five in the morning sharp, and we'll be taking the carriages to town close to here. A town called Cogsworth. It is a small town, and during the day you will be followed by some Auror trainees. Keep in mind that Cogsworth is a Muggle town, and you are not permitted to use magic in the presence of a Muggle, so if you're going to attack someone who's following you, make absolutely certain it's a trainee. Your objective is to get to the church by two. It's not hard to locate; you can see it from any point of the town. If you're not back by two, you will fail this mission, and the trainees will bring you back to Hogwarts...eventually. Got any questions?"

Nearly every hand went into the air.

Gregory nodded. "Mr Worth."

Finn put his hand down, his eyes bright at the prospect of a mission. "You said we'll be leaving at five and we have to get to the church by two. When will we actually get to Cogsworth?"

"Around eight."

Finn nodded, looking thoughtful.

"How many of them will there be?" a Hufflepuff asked.

"One for each of you," Gregory explained. "You'll be in pairs of two. You may pick them seeing as this is your mission and I will not be responsible if you and your partner cannot cooperate."

Victoria made eye contact with Julia and she nodded. Without words, they knew that they'd be partners tomorrow.

"What should we wear?" asked an especially conceited Ravenclaw.

A few people snorted, but Gregory lifted his hands. "That is surprisingly a good question. You'll want to blend in with the Muggles and not stand out to those who are supposed to be following you, so you probably shouldn't wear any robes or wizarding clothing."

The questioning went on for the rest of the period. Victoria's head was spinning as a feeling of dread, excitement, and nervousness filled her stomach. It didn't seem to hard to her, but then again, they had the upper hand–they were, after all, trained more than they were. Still, she knew that tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.


	3. Falling

Her feet crunched against the gravel slowly; hesitantly. Julia stood by her side, but her presence was not comforting, nor was the presence or any of her other classmates. The streets of Cogsworth lay ahead in front of her, yet the roads were bare. Sixteen straggling teenagers stood in a loose line, staring ahead.

"Where is everybody?" Victoria heard Remus mutter from beside her.

"Are they like, dead?" Finn asked loudly, before getting a wallop over the head from Julia.

"This is our _mission_, guys. It's supposed to be hard."

"Maybe they're all..." Victoria trailed off before smiling brightly. "Shopping!"

All sets of eyes turned to her wearily.

"What?" she asked defensively. "Can't a girl like to shop?" Sighing, she shook her head and took a few steps ahead of the others. "Are we gonna go or what?" she asked, continuing to walk and pulling Julia along behind her. "The ground's not gonna eat us, guys."

A few mumbles were heard between the students, but they followed her lead, making their cautious way down a street called _Penelope Lane_. Victoria could imagine the dust radiating off of the same town before her eyes landed on a middle-aged woman making her way towards a dimly lit store close by.

"Excuse me!" she called, jogging up to her, the rest of the class hanging back. "Could you tell us where everyone is?"

The woman gave her an odd look before gasping and giving them all a disappointed stare. "Are you lot skipping school?"

"What?" Victoria asked, puzzled. "No, we're here _for_–"

A kick on the back of her foot cut her sentence off and she felt someone step up next to her. She looked up–way up–to the sight of Sirius Black, smiling widely.

"You caught us, ma'am. Vicky here was just trying to confuse you, weren't you there, Vicky?" he asked, giving her a soft, but warning, punch on the shoulder.

"Vicky?" she muttered, confused by the new nickname.

He slung his arm around her. "Sorry about that, ma'am. We'll just head off to school, now," he told the woman, grabbing a hold of Victoria's shoulder and turning her sharply around.

"The school is that way, young man," the woman corrected, her voice stern. Sirius turned around sheepishly, still lugging Victoria with him.

"On our way," he answered, before starting to walk off in the direction she was pointing. The rest of the class followed.

"Who knew Sirius Black knew the word ma'am?" James asked, leaping up to his best mate and slapping him on the back with a grin.

Sirius laughed, nodding. "Who knew."

"What time is it?" Finn muttered.

"About nine," Remus answered.

"I thought we were supposed to be here by eight?"

"Guess it took a little longer."

The teens continued walking down the street, winding their way through the town. They passed maybe two of three people, but everything else was deserted. Peeking into the shops, they always saw a bored looking person leaning against the cash register.

"We're going that way," two Hufflepuff's said, turning down a different road. Slowly, the group split, and finally it was just Victoria and Julia slowly shuffling their way against the cobblestone streets.

"There's the school," Julia pointed out. The building she motioned towards was one large block, the windows high up and small. A bell hung at the front of the school, presumably ringing when the day was over. Victoria glanced at her watch–11:30.

As if on cue, the bell rang loudly and the double doors to the school were thrown open. Mobs of kids ranging from the ages of five to seventeen flooded the streets, the familiar silence that had been present just seconds before now gone, replaced with loud calls and voices.

"At least it's not a ghost town," Julia said, and Victoria nodded her agreement. The two girls attracted many stares from the school children, but the girls did not pay any attention, trying to blend into their surroundings. It was obvious that this was a small town where everyone knew everyone, and their presence would not go unnoticed.

"Hey," a voice said from behind them, and the girls turned towards a boy that looked around their age, his dark brown hair cut crisply and his eyes a light blue.

"Hi," Julia answered, her flirt already on.

"Are you guys new here?" he asked. "I've never seen you around before."

"Yeah," Victoria answered. "We just moved here. We're sisters."

"Cool. I'm Nate."

"Julia," Julia answered, before pointing to her 'sister.' "And Victoria."

He laughed. "A lot of 'uh,' huh?"

Julia looked confused. "Excuse me?" she asked politely.

"Oh, you know," he said. "Juli_a_. Victori_a_." He chuckled again.

"Right..."

"So, d'you want a tour? Not much here, but it could be fun."

"Sure," Victoria answered, looping her arm through Julia's before following Nate down the road he was walking down. He talked on about this and that, and Victoria, who was used to being the one who talking nonstop, felt bad about not paying any attention to him. Still, she could not stop her mind from reeling. This mission was positively odd. She'd barely seen a soul until school had let out, and now she was surrounded by people. Not to mention, since when did school get out at 11:30?

Julia pinched her arm, and she gave a small yelp. Nate didn't seem to notice, and Victoria threw a glance at Julia. She leaned in, whispering in Victoria's ear, "He's got a wand in his back pocket."

Victoria's eyes bulged as she looked to Nate. Sure enough, there was an impression of a thin something in his back pocket, the rest of it disguised under his button up shirt.

"It could be–"

"It's a wand," Julia said firmly.

"Then what's he waiting for?" Victoria asked, confused.

"Well," Julia said loudly, "We should probably be getting home, you know. Gotta finish unpacking and such. We just came out to get a look–"

Nate looked at them with a weird look. "Really?" he asked, motioning to the small teashop that was in front of him. "I figured we could get some tea. Weren't you listening?"

"Um," Victoria said, her palms starting to sweat. "Sure, let's get some tea."

"_What?_" Julia hissed in her ear as Nate beamed, holding the door open for the two of them. Julia shot him a fake, large smile before stepping in after Victoria.

The trio sat down at one of the open tables as Nate began talking again. "I really love it here, in Cogsworth. Sure, it's a little small, but it's homey, you know? I remember when my family moved here, just a few years ago, and–"

"Well, hey, Nate, who're your friends?" a woman asked, walking up to their table. She wore an apron and had a pad of paper in her hand, obviously their waitress.

"Oh, they're new," Nate said, chatting on about the girls sitting across from him. The woman smiled, nodding along, before asking for their orders. All of them ordered tea before she scribbled something on her paper, smiled sweetly, and walked away.

Victoria gulped. Did that smile look particularly vindictive or was it just her imagination?

"I'm just going to head to the bathroom," Nate said, standing up. "I'll be back in a jiffy."

"That boy has too much energy," Julia mumbled under her breath as he walked away. She shook her head before fixing Victoria with a glare. "What were you _thinking_, 'Toria? We could have walked into exactly where they want us to be!"

"I thought–"

"Never mind. I want to see if he's really in the bathroom. I'll be back."

"We're supposed to stay together," Victoria reminded her.

Julia rolled her eyes. "Really, you think _I'm_ going to get caught? Come on. I can take care of myself."

Victoria knew she couldn't argue–Julia had to be one of the best duellers in their year. She nodded hesitantly. "I'll stay here, keep an eye on things."

"Good idea," Julia answered, before making her way over to where a side read, 'Bathrooms.'

The clatter of the teashop was loud in Victoria's ears as she scanned the shop. Lots of kids that had just gotten out of school were seated in the shop, their backpacks on the floor next to them. The minutes passed as Victoria critically observed their movements. Nothing seemed out of place, and she turned her gaze to the table in front of her, letting her fingers trace the patterns made in the wood.

A few more minutes passed before Victoria started wondering where Julia and Nate had gone. It had been at least seven minutes, and unless they were doing something else in the bathroom, she couldn't understand what was taking so long. Cautiously, she stood up, winding her way gracelessly past the tables and groups of kids to the bathrooms. She reached two doors, one that read 'Men' and one that read, 'Women.' Victoria peeked her head into the Men's room, but she was met with an empty room. Her stomach plummeting, she entered the Women's room instead.

"Jules?" she called before even entering the room. Once she did, she was met with an odd sight. Sirius Black was bent on his knees on the grungy bathroom floor, peeking under the stalls.

"Sirius, what are you _doing_?" Victoria asked incredulously.

His head snapped up. "I lost James," he blurted out, his eyes wide.

"I lost Julia," she answered, her voice more hysterical.

"Shit," he cursed under, rising to his feet.

She wrung her hands. "What do we do?"

He ignored her question. "How'd you lose her?"

"Well, school let out and this guy, Nate started talking to us and invited us on a tour so he took us to this place but not before we saw he had a wand in his back pocket and then he said he had to go to the bathroom, and Julia followed him, and they never came back and–"

"Fuck," Sirius cursed again.

"What?" Victoria asked, cutting off.

"The same thing happened to me!"

"Why'd you let James go off by himself?" she asked loudly.

"Why'd you let Julia go off by herself?" he shot back.

"She can take care of herself!"

"So can James!"

"Well, what do we do now?"

"I think..." He rubbed his chin before letting both of his hands drop to his sides with a sigh. "I think this is where they're going to take us. You know, so we can't get to the church. It's on the other side of town. I think they're hoping to round us all up here."

"Have you seen anyone else?"

"No."

"Great, so we're the only ones who fell for it?" she asked sulkily.

"Maybe. Or they just got father away and have a longer way to walk."

"That's another way of saying we suck at this."

"Shut up," he snapped at her. "I don't _suck_."

"Well, how do we get out of here then, genius? There aren't any windows in these bathrooms, and if this is where they're taking us, then they won't let us just walk out."

They fell into silence, each pondering a way to get out of the teashop before Sirius snapped his fingers, his eyes lighting up with an idea. "Come on," he said, grabbing Victoria's hand as he passed her on his way out of the bathroom. "I think I saw a staircase over here..."

Sure enough, there was a staircase adjacent to the bathrooms. They had barely taken two steps before a voice called from behind them. "Hey," they called. "You're not allowed up there!"

Without even taking a glance behind them, they broke out into a run up the stairs. Footfalls could be heard from behind them, definitely more than one person, but they didn't pause for a second. They followed the stairs up to a landing before turning and taking another flight of stairs even higher up. They were met with another landing, but there was nothing there except a window.

"Shit," Victoria cursed, ready to pull out her hair.

Sirius took a look out of the window before turning his ablaze eyes towards Victoria. "Do you trust me?"

She turned towards him. "What?" she asked.

"Do you trust me?" he repeated more firmly this time.

"Yes..." she answered hesitantly. He was opening the window in front of her before turning back to her and holding out his hand.

"Then hold my hand," he said, more rushed now as the people–men, Victoria saw–turned to the staircase just before the landing they were standing on. Giving no thought, Victoria threw her hand into Sirius's, hoping he knew what he was doing. He turned back around to the window and threw a leg out of it, stepping out onto a small ledge. He dropped her hand, grabbing her around the waist instead, and pulled her through the window, before stepping off of the ledge and falling through the air.

She was screaming before the air even hit her face.


End file.
